Of Ghouls and Superstitions
by Nightly73
Summary: One Shot of Vi and Cait. Mainly just a warm up writing session to get me back into the swing of things. Vi and Cait are tasked with bringing up sick Zaunite children to Piltover for medical attention. On their way they discuss whether or not the paranormal is fiction or not.


**_Hey Everyone! So I have the Sheriff and The soldier chapter finished, it's currently just in editing and may be out by the end of the week. Sorry for the long wait. I went to Italy to go spread my Canadian cheer. Anyways I decided to write a little thing since Halloween is coming up. It isn't the best, but it was fun to write something small and goofy. Enjoy friends! It feels good to write again._**

Rain patters against the cobblestones that create the streetway below her moving feet. The city streets much like the walls of the buildings, are grimy and slime covered. Shutters are loose like the clay shingles covering the roofs. The pipes were moss covered and extremely rusty; they shudder with banging groans as water travels through them. The alleyways are dark. There, the untrustworthy passages promise of sinister activities, whether criminal or diseased ridden. The acrid scent of polluted fog and acid rain hit her nostrils like a ten ton truck. A grin spreads through her thin lips.

This was home.

Unlike the posh cobblestone she had just come back from, these streets created a comforting feeling.

Well at least they used to.

She can feel their eyes on her back like sharp piercing daggers against unprotected flesh. Their gaze buries deeper as she comes closer and closer to them.

Caitlyn also feels them. Her back is ramrod straight as she walks with her head held high and nose pointed up to the streets above. How her nostrils wish they were once again breathing Piltovian innovative air than the putrid scent of poisonous fumes. Her trusty rifle is gripped tightly in her fingerless gloved hands. Finger resting on the safety.

Much like other Piltovian nobles, Caitlyn had a...healthy fear of the Zaunite populace. Some, like her pink haired deputy, would call it something other than a healthy fear. More like a racism problem, but that conversation hadn't reared its ugly head.

It hadn't pissed Vi off completely yet.

Besides, it wasn't her fault. Just how she was raised, it'll take time but Cait'll get 'round to understanding.

"You gotta relax, Cupcake." Vi breathes. Her shoulders roll easily inside her leather jacket. Caitlyn could see the way Vi's body became less tense and more loose as she strut languidly down the slimy cobblestone. This was a different Vi that the sheriff hadn't seen before.

Her violet eyes are more devious. Her infamous crooked grin was a bit more devilish. Her protective walk of swiveling eyes and clenched fists turned into a sauntering jaunt of pure cocksuredness. The toothpick hanging from her lips easily could have been a hand rolled cigarette if it wasn't for Caitlyn's interruption of the addiction.

"We're in the good part of the city. Ain't no one here that wants to get in a mess right now." Vi

grins, her teeth almost spread into a wolfish smile. There is something about her accent that got thicker with a tinge promise of absolute reckless danger. It made the sheriff uneasy as she watched the change in body language.

This in turn did not help Caitlyn relax. Especially since there was still six months of working with each other under their belts.

Did Caitlyn trust her Deputy, Vi?

Of course, with her life mind you.

But did she trust Zaunite Vi?

She wasn't sure.

This is what set her on edge.

Not the fact that there was most likely a metric ton of criminals watching their every move like hungry lions. But the fact that her deputy could easily pull the wool under her eyes and feed her to those lions, as if it were a thought out ploy.

She only agreed to this job because children were involved, and whether those children were of Zaunite descent or not, they needed her help.

Vi turned on her as her thoughts circled their anxious loop around her brain.

This was it, this is how she was to be betrayed. She shouldn't have been so stupi…

"Caitlyn." Vi's voice is a tersed recapture point to the sheriff's focus. Roughened calloused hands, rest onto her slight shoulders. "Seriously. You have to relax. Right now yer blood in tha water filled with sharks. They smell fear."

"I'm not afraid, Deputy." Caitlyn says sternly. "Release me at once."

Vi raises her hands in defense as she keeps eye contact with the sheriff's ice blue hues.

"Sure that's fine an' all, but you have to not look so...offended to be here." Vi's eyebrows drew in concern. "If you are that uncomfortable to be here, I'm more than ok, takin' this gig by myself."

"Balderdash." Caitlyn snapped rigidly. "I can't have you running all over these routes by yourself, that's just insane. The very thought makes…"

"You don't trust me." Vi states bluntly.

The sheriff gulped. "No, I do trust-"

"No ya don't Cait." Vi cut. "Don't lie to me. We made a pact remember? We ain't lying to each other. One hundred percent honesty. An' that's what I have been with you. I told you when I had smoke cravings. I told you when I had nightmares. I told you when I was still living on the street. So why aren't ya holding up yer end of the promise?"

Caitlyn's lips form into a straight line of pure stubbornness. "It isn't like that. You are just…" Uneasiness curdles her gut."You are rather different here."

Vi snorts. "This is where I grew up, Cait. How can I not be different?" The pinkette points to the nearest alley corner. "That's where I had my first kiss." She points toward the east of said point. "Just a block away is where I had my first fight. And just beyond that was the first time I got arrested. This city, as different as it is from Piltover, has so many memories." She looks up to the walkways of the city of progress. "And up there is where I now call home. I may have come here." She points back down to the cobblestone. "But I sure as hell ain't calling this home."

Caitlyn kept eye contact with the brawler. With a great sigh, she began to walk ahead. "We've got work to do. The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can go back home. I do not want to stick around during the harrowing." She grunted.

"Roger that, Cupcake. I ain't feeling up to being ghoul grub." Vi agreed quickening her step to catch up with her partner.

"Ghouls do not exist, Vi." Caitlyn exasperatedly groaned. "That is just silly superstition with simple explanations. They could easily be unfortunate experimented on monkeys that got released. People do the strangest experiments to inflict cruelty on animals. It's a shame really."

Vi gave a noise of incredulity. "Alright pedigree heiress, you 'ave a right to believe whatever tha hell ya want. But I've seen them, ya know." Vi elbows the sheriff playfully. "They've got big gaping mouths and skinny claws for hands. I've seen 'em tear through a pack of razorfins, like we were rippin paper. They've got these big black eyes that bulge out of their heads, and they moan louder than a whore house, Cait. Ugh and they look as sickly as shimmer addicts. All pale and clammy. We orphans usually stayed on the roofs during the harrowing so that we didn't end up as ghoul chow."

"Honestly Vi, there is most likely a perfectly good explanation for your so called 'ghouls'." She chastised. "Maybe you and your band of orphans had a bad shimmer trip."

"Not once 'ave i been on that shit, Cait. I've watched that shit ruin already fucked up lives. And that's hard to bloody do." Vi growled. "I'm telling ya. Ghouls are real and so are ghosts!"

"Not this again Vi." Caitlyn groaned.

"Cait, I swear to my dead mother's grave that I saw that ghost in the evidence room."

"How many times do I have to tell you. Jayce was pranking you." The sheriff explained for the hundredth millionth time. After the infamous incident, Vi still will not walk into the evidence room, unless pressured and coaxed with either donuts or the tarnish of her bravery.

"No! After that!" Vi complained. "I watched that entire shelf levitate and no one will believe me. I'm not that crazy. My eyes aren't lying and neither am I."

"There are no such things as ghosts, Vi." Caitlyn urged roughly. "You probably imagined it! You're being ridiculous!"

At Caitlyn's yell, something scurried across from alleyway to another, making Vi jump and land in a boxing stance, ready to fight whatever threat came to life as the two officers argued the existence of the paranormal.

The cat sized rat squeaked in surprise before scurrying off into a sewer grate.

Vi gave a slight chuckle afterwards, leaning on her knees to help reign in her pounding heart.

Before Vi could realise anything, Caitlyn returned to her casual stance, brushing away the fear of being taken away by ghoul like creatures to the acrid wind.

"Alright enough of this. Let's get these children up to Piltover so that they can get the medical attention they need." Caitlyn ordered, marching bravely ahead through the fog, swallowing her fear. "We have to meet with Zaunite officials in five minutes. I will not have us late."

Vi gave a cautious look around before giving a great sigh. "Yeah, let's get out of here. Explanations of ghouls or not, I'd rather be out of tha streets before midnight. Shady shit happens and people aren't too kind with pigs sniffing about."

As the two officers continued a long their way they did not notice the small creature watching them with large coal black eyes. It had been watching them since their arrival. Its long claws tapped along the grimy cobblestone in thought. Its chest gave great heaves as it struggled to breathe, rattling it's throat with long moans. It was curious of whatever the humans were doing, but dared not show itself. It didn't have the strength yet. If they returned during the harrowing, it would be able to show itself a bit more boldly without fear of being harmed.

Intriguing, it thought. No one ever believes the survivors.


End file.
